I was thinking of using a 223 for under 200 yards. A 22-250 for 200-400 yards, and a 6mm Rem Improved for the long stuff. Are these good choices and am I going to need a couple more guns in case the others get hot??? The hunt will be at least 8-10 hours long. Another question, how much faster is a 22-250 improved over a standard 22-250 with 40 grain ballistic tips???

That is about what I take a 223,22-250 and a 243 seems like you have it all coverd. I find that I shoot one the move to another when that gets to hot not worrying about using one for each range.

So would a couple more rifles be better for rapid shooting, I was thinking I could not worry about range and shott about 4 22-250's along with the 223 and 6mm. I need a few quality high power scopes that wont kill me on price, ive heard good things about the weavers, any suggestions?

I just want to add that I have had good sucess with 223 out to 300 yards on some big dogs!.
With your combination you will certainly have some overlap. The 223 was using 40 boat tails and with a target turret was really cool.

The 223 and 6mm will do what ever the dogs can need!

Matt

Good choices, you'll be well-armed.

You can shoot the .223 quite a bit more and more often than the other two before its barrel heats enough to either (1) start to "walk" its point of impact, or (2) begins to concern you in terms of premature wear. If you'll zero it for about 250 yards, you can be effective with it out to 300 or so (if the wind is not too stiff).

I like to alternate guns, starting with my "little" gun and progressing up to my "big gun" as the range of "available" dogs increases at a given stand. Then I change locations and start over with the "little gun".

My only suggestion is (if the town is abundant and relatively undisturbed) to start with an even smaller gun like a .22 WMR or .22 Hornet. The little guns are more fun that the big ones, to me.

Your rifle battery should work just fine, but don't sell your 223 so short, it will work just fine out to 500 yards. You will find that if the wind is blowing so hard you have trouble connecting with the 223, that unless you are shooting a bigger bullet with the 22-250, there really won't be much difference between the two.
Increasing velocity helps buck the wind, but not as much as going to a higher BC bullet.

I've been harping about a fast twist 22-250 with 75gr A-Maxes this year. After 1000 rounds thru that rifle I was so well please that I bought 3 new barrels for it. It still shoot well but I am going to pull the barrel, recontour it, cut it fron 28.5" to 22" to make it work for coyotes on another action. The longerst shot on a PD was 592 meters (one shot). I also use an AR type with a 24" SS barrel with the same bullets and go out to 450 yards with that rifle. Between those two rifles I could probably leave the others (17rem, 222, reg 22-250, 223 16" barrel, 220 swift, 7mm-300 Weatherby) home.

At least one in the 17 Mach IV, 222Rem, 223Rem, 222 Rem Mag class, Two would be a lot better. If the condition are consistent (even a heavy wind, but consistent) the 223Rem will go 500+ on PD's. I made the VH 500yard club with my 223Rem with a shot @ 531 yards using a 50gr flat base bullet. The winds were consistent and I "dialed" him in.

I had great success this summer with my 17M4 on dogs out to 400+ on a very calm day.

You need guns that don't heat-up and don't scare every dog in the square mile down there hole if you want a high varmint count.

The 22-250 and up seem to scare the dogs down a lot faster and keep them down a lot longer. Using a 22-250 for under 400 yards will scare more dogs down then you will ever get to shoot at in my experiance.

My Long range PD guns are a 243AI, 257DGR and 308OBM. But you only get about 5-10 shots and you have to let these calibers cool or risk toasting a barrel in short order.

Good Hunting
Jeff in ND

A good 223 is very hard to beat. I would consider the range to be out to 300 as long as the wind doesn't get to stiff. From what I have seen the 22-250 doesn't have much on it if you plan on shooting weights 50-60 grains.

Matter of fact its a trade off that the 223 wins IMO. Because its burning quite a bit less powder thus the barrel heat up is less.

Dogs are killed routinely with 223 to 500 yards.

I normallytake a couple of 223's, 220 Swift,243 Win., and for real fun a 7 mm Mag. You don't have to hit them, just shoot right at their feet and see how high you can through them into the air and have your buddy try Prairie Skeet.

[ 10-10-2002, 01:30: Message edited by: Handloader ]

Nobody has mentioned the "entertainment factor". A lighter pill out of the 6mm or 22-250 can send them airborne in a glorious red shower. .223's smack them pretty hard, but just a little more umph is fun. Rather than ranges, think wind. Load a 70gr or better pill in the 6mm incase it's blustery. And just alternate between your .22s

I hope your 6mm Ackley has a 1-9" twist. Mime has a 1-10" twist and will not shoot the 105gr A-Max's. I shoot the 70gr TNT's and Blitzkings out to 600yds. A friend of mine has a 1-9" and the A-Max's hit much harder than the 70gr bullets. We were shooting one gallon jugs full of water at 500 meters and what a difference the A-Max makes. It also shoots flatter and bucks the wind better at the longer ranges. For varmint hunting, I use the A-max in my 22/6mm Ackley, 243 Ackley, 7mm-08, 6.5/06, and 300 Win Mag. Just rember to wear rain gear. The Big Dog

PS, Don't forget to take along a pellet gun and a 22 for the close in shots. We use a pellet gun for when we are close to people and buildings. The Big Dog

HAND LOADER, yea! Ha! you said it. You should have seen the Ground hog Fly when I hit em at 525 with a 300 RUM! usin a SMK. My Buddy has vidio.

You need more guns! No matter what the wife says you need more guns. You can just never have too many p-dog rifles.

Migra

Can you guys see the downrange hits. I think most of the fun is lost if you can't see the end result.

VISUAL CARNAGE

Would a 12-tube 22LR Gatlin using CCI Stingers for out to 100yd shots
be a b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-blast or
what?

Your battery is okay but your .223 has better range potential than you think. Enough that you really don't need the .22-250 when you have the .243. If you don't wildcat stop reading this. If you wildcat, a better format would be .22 K-Hornet, .223AI or .22-250, and then .257 Roberts AI. IMHO, the .223AI will accomplish most of what the .22-250 will do. However, the .22-250AI has few peers in the .224 world. The Roberts(plain or AI) will hurl heavier bullets faster than the 6mm's, handle wind better, and at long range it will embarrass the .22's severely.